I have an old TX-20 on one TV that also has 2 Series 2 DT's. The TX-20 was so slow to do anything that I really only used it for playing DVD's. Finally, it got so slow that I had to reboot every time I wanted to watch a DVD so I finally got a new hard drive for it from WeaKnees. It took 10 minutes to install and now the thing is as zippy as either one of my Series 2 DT's! It's got a whole new life. $109. total. I shudda done it months ago.

I hope someone can answer a question for me. I would like to have a recorder that I can move from state to state. In the past I have just used a VCR. In the last few days because of the digital conversion I began thinking there must be a better way. I have found a toshiba rstx60 at a dealers but I know nothing about them. If I hook it up to a cable (no converter box) will it record for me? In other words can I select a program tomorrow and walk away and it will record a program for me. I see no tuner within the unit so I am at a loss. I would use the unit from Penna to South Carolina. Would appreciate any input. thank you in advance
trvltv
p.s. I am the newest member just joined today and I hope this works.

thank you for the response. Is the program which you referred to that sets up the channels a disk included with the unit or is it software within the machine that I can run each time I set it up? thank you again.

I'm try'n to hook up my Tivo thru my internet access to get updates...do i just get a USB to phone cord hookup and plug it into my phone jack...i have no land line phone...just high speed internet thru outhern bell.

quick question; i'm about to buy a tx20 and i was wondering if i can watch tv through component out, or is it just the dvd player that uses it? the composite jacks on my receiver are all taken but i have a free component space left, so obviously i'd like to use that.

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Hello, All! I have the RS-TX20 and I want to upgrade the hard drive to something much bigger. I've added hard drives to my computer and I think I can do it but I've got a few questions. I apologize in advance if this has all been covered before -- I plucked through many of the 63 pages of comments and questions and didn't find "exactly" what I was looking for...

1) What kind(s) of hard drives are OK for our machines? Can I go to Newegg (I like them) and buy a hard drive or am I better off going to a "TiVo friendly" dealer for a specific type of drive/software?

2) My drive didn't crash; will I need a "virgin image"?

3) I have a lifetime subscription. I'm sure I'm cool but is there any risk to "wiping out" my subscription by making the swap?

4) What else do I need to know? Are there any step-by-step instructions for our machines that I can download somewhere (if I don't go with a drive specifically marketed to TiVo people)?

Hard Drive Replacement Questions:
1) What kind(s) of hard drives are OK for our machines? Can I go to Newegg (I like them) and buy a hard drive or am I better off going to a "TiVo friendly" dealer for a specific type of drive/software?

You can use any EIDE drive (not SATA unless you want to use an adapter as well).

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnycashish

2) My drive didn't crash; will I need a "virgin image"?

No, you can copy the software from your old drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnycashish

3) I have a lifetime subscription. I'm sure I'm cool but is there any risk to "wiping out" my subscription by making the swap?

No, the lifetime sub will be fine as it's tied to the unit's TSN which is baked into the unit's other hardware, not the drive, or the software, or anything like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnycashish

4) What else do I need to know? Are there any step-by-step instructions for our machines that I can download somewhere (if I don't go with a drive specifically marketed to TiVo people)?

Drew, thanks for the VERY QUICK reply! I read through the upgrade instructions you suggested and the hard drive installation is simple enough but the "bootable disk" language is a bit confusing to me. Although I hate spending the "extra money," perhaps the plug-and-play drives at WeaKnees are what I should go with.

I'm not concerned about saving my old shows or anything like that but I have no idea whether or not I have a "fat partition" and I'm not sure I have any more open slots to connect the TiVo hard drive to my PC. And don't get me started on my lack of Linux command knowledge... Before I resign myself to buying a drive with the TiVo software preloaded, can you offer me any other suggestions? Thanks again!!

I'm not sure what you're referring to in regards to "bootable disk"... Are you talking about the boot CD that you need to burn from the ISO available as a link within the instructions? You simply need to burn it to a CD, so that you can boot into Linux (embedded on the boot CD) to perform the upgrade.

You most likely don't have a FAT partition, but that shouldn't matter unless you want to make a backup (and as long as you keep the original TiVo hard drive, that can function almost as well as a backup).

Open IDE ports shouldn't be an issue as you can disconnect any additional IDE devices (aside from the CD drive you need to use to boot up with), such as hard drives, during the upgrade process. You essentially need three IDE ports... One for the CD drive, one for the old hard drive, and one for the new hard drive. Almost every computer that has IDE ports has four, so three isn't an issue.

However, a sticking point I hadn't considered until now (as I haven't upgraded a TiVo's hard drive in many years) is that almost all computers have switched to SATA. Given that they don't have IDE ports, it's impossible to upgrade an RS-TX20 on them without IDE-to-SATA converters. So, if you don't have a computer with IDE ports readily available, it might be worth spending a few extra bucks on a preloaded drive.

Lack of Linux command knowledge isn't too huge a concern, as all the steps are laid out pretty well in the instructions.

For the most up to date upgrade tools, check out www.mfslive.org. This site has many guides to help you upgrade your hard drive. You can even use a Windows XP with SP3 machine with the WinMFS program. I've used this site many times to upgrade my TiVos.

You can use the USB to PATA/SATA connectors to backup and restore TiVo drives using both WinMFS and the MFSLive Boot CD v1.3 or later. I've done this numerous times. There is the added cost of the connector, and you only use them during the backup or restore procedure. Also, they are slower than directly connecting the hard drive to the PATA chain in your computer, so you'll spend some extra time waiting for it to finish.

It's not just the fact that it's older, but really the fact that it's a 5xx model. The older 1xx and 2xx models had beefier hardware, but TiVo scaled back the hardware on the 5xx models, in an effort to reduce production costs. The 6xx models (which is probably what you got your mother-in-law) have beefier hardware as well.

Drew

Do you think a newer drive might make it faster as it is the original drive in there and the drives are faster now then when this unit was built?

Thinking about attempting it myself and putting in a 500 gig drive. I do have over 18 years experience in computers, repairing and building them, so I should be ok.

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just got the toshiba tx20 from a friend who upgraded to the series 3 tivo.
im currentlt using the phone connection for the guide updates
along with the tivo basic service which is limited.
anyway i ordered a netgear 111g usb adaptor, it's 802.11g/b ???
the tivo site says this will work but only with software 7.xx will this tivo update to sotware 7.xx or will i have to use a b only usb adaptor?
has anyone used a usb g wireless adaptor with this model?
let me know
thank you

Hi, first time post. I have a RS-TX20. Had it for years. Every once in a while, I accidently select a channel that I don't have service. When I change back to a channel that I do have service the info banner at the top of the screen for the previous channel stays on. I used to restart the system and the info would go away. Now, even after restart, it will not go away! anyone else have this issue? How is it fixed?

well shoot!! apearently you cannot get any software updares unless you have a tivo plus account.... im using the basic service it has updated to ver 3.2.xx buy thats all. this sucks! i though that i would at least get the software updates?
is thee away to get the updates? other than subbing?
let me know